Mail-bag



(No Model.)

H. C. EVANS & G. JONES.

. MAiIL BAG. No. 291,501. Patented Jan. '8,"i1884.

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H. CLAY EVANS AND GEORGE JONES, OF GHATTAXOOGI'X, TENNESSEE.

MAIL-BAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,501, dated January8, 1884.

Application filed May 22,1883. (Xomodel) To all whom, it Hwy concern..-

Be it known thatwe, H. CLAY Evans and GEORGE JoNEs, of Chattanooga, inthe county of Hamilton and State of Tennessee, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Mail Bags; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing-is a full, clear, concise, and exact description of theconstruction and operation of the same, reference being had to theannexed drawings, m akin g part of th is specification, and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 is a front view of our mail-bag, the mouth being open, readyfor filling. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the same on line asx, the mouth being closed, ready for locking.

In the accompanying drawings, A repre sents the body of the mail-bag,which has secured to it near its mouth a re-enforce piece, 0, extendingall around the bag, being riveted thereto, the front portion beingcompletely riveted (the re-enforce piece and body of the bag) togetherby means of the conventional mail-bag rivets; but one or two rows ofrivets are used to secure this flap re-enforce piece at and to the backof the bag, the back of the bag and said re-enforce piece being leftseparate from the lower portion, at which place it is riveted to thebag, (to the top of the said bag,) thereby forming a pocket, F, betweenthe back of the bag and the said re-enforce piece, for a purposehereinafter stated. This re-enforoe piece is extended upward at the backor rear portion, forming a flap, whereas at the front it is outconsiderably shorter than the body of the bag. The flapof the re-enforceis preferablymade double, for strength and security, the two thicknessesof leather being firmly I riveted together;'and it is provided with ametal-rimmed elongated eyelet or long slot,

E, and secured to the front of the bag A by means of a metallic plate,and passing through the re-enferce piece 0 is the one staple D. Themouth or top portion, B, of the bag A is adapted to be folded down, theline of fold being just flush with the top of the front portion of there-enforce piece.

is very tortuous, and that it would be impos sible to insert the hand orany instrument into the closed bag, the hand or instrument having tomake at least five sharp turns: first under the front of the outer flapon piece 0, then over the front of top horizontally, then down at back,then up between the mouth-fiaps B B,

then finally over the top between these flaps,

and then down into the bag, so that meddling with the contents of thebag when closed is absolutely impossible.

But one staple is used in securing our bag, thus saving the expense ofmany staples and of many metal-faced eyelets, and also saving muchvaluable time in doing up and undoing the mail-bag. The conventionallacing strap or chain is entirely dispensed with, also dispensing withmany staples and the many metallic plates or rivets that commonlysurround the eyelets or long staple-slots, thus quite materiallyreducing both the weight and the cost of mail-bags.

Mail-bags have been made with two flaps, (a front and a back fiap,) andthese bags have been secured by folding down first one flap, and thenthe other over this first flap; but such construction is utterly unlikeour invention, and we would not suggest it.

Having thus described our invention, we

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates- 1. In a mail-bag, the combination of the extended top of thebag, adapted to be folded down backward into a pocket, and means forsecuring the same in position, substantially as set forth.

2. In a mailbag, the combination of the ex tended top of the bag,adapted to be folded down backward into apocket formed between the rearside of the bag and the flap, the flap being adapted to be folded downforward over the folded-down top, and means for securing the same inposition, substantially as set forth.

3. In a mail-bag, the combination of the downwardly and backwardlyfolded top, the pass through the eyelet to permit the bag to pocketformed by the flap and body of the bag, be looked, as herein described.the back flap being provided with an eyelet, In testimony that we claimthe above we and the staple, substantially as described. have hereuntosubscribed our names in the 5 4. The herein described mail bag,conpresence of two witnesses.

structed with an extended top, a pocket in the H. CLAY EVANS. rear ofthe top, an eyeleted flap, and a staple, GEORGE JONES. the extended topbeing adapted to fold down 1 W'itnesses: into the pocket, the flap beingadapted to fold S. B. STRONG, 10 down over the folded-down top, thestaple to i L. Boron.

